There have been many experts over the years who have broken down the different scenarios of purchasing a car and have come up with a few simple rules and techniques to follow in order to receive the best deal possible.

Look towards the Beginning of the Month and Buy Towards the End- Similar to the end of the month when local law enforcement officers park out front of school zones to boost their “ticket sales”, car dealers also have their own brand of monthly quotas to reach. You see, car dealers get a bonus at the end of every month from both their dealership and many times also from the manufacturer. These bonuses range from number of cars sold, to the most expensive. With such incentive, towards the end of the month, a dealer who is one or two cars away from reaching one of these goals may be a little more likely to cut a low deal if it will bring them closer to reaching a bonus check.

Beyond the dealers themselves, the manager of the dealership has their own set of incentives towards the end of the month. Many manufacturers divide their newly released cars out to dealers, by giving the best selection to the best sellers. This means that the dealerships who can unload the greatest amount of cars will receive the most sought after cars to sell, which will in turn boost their selling capability for the next month. This is pretty good incentive for the manager to allow a few extra good deals to flow through towards the end of the month, so that they can reach their quota and receive a good inventory.

A good way to tell if a dealership may be willing to offer an extra good deal is if you notice several models of the same car on their lot. While the dealer is held by the manufacturer to selling their cars at a certain amount over their actual cost to make, you have to consider the amount of money they make through their service department. For every car they sell, they are introducing a new service customer into their system, so even if they don’t make a big profit on the car itself, they will certainly be making profit over the years in service. This rule does not always apply to every situation, but it certainly never hurts to go shopping towards the end of the month.

Keep Your Mouth Closed, Ears Open, and Discussion Simple- There are good things to say to a dealer and bad. There are rule books that go over the entire spectrum of things you should and shouldn’t be saying, but to make things simple, keep the discussions simple. You don’t need to be talking about monthly payments, incentives, trade-ins, or anything other than the total cost of the vehicle sale in question. Once you mix monthly payments and trade-in values, you can quickly lose track of the actual deal you are getting for the vehicle. As long as you know the general value of the vehicle in question, then you know approximately what you are willing to spend.

Dealers love to start out by knowing what kind of a payment you can handle per month. They can usually give you what you need by manipulating the length of your lease rather than the overall price of the vehicle. This makes the dealer richer and the consumer poorer, so don’t fall into this. This is the same reason that you won’t want to mention a trade-in, because the dealer will attempt to sweeten the deal with a “better” trade-in value, which will generally translate into a worse overall deal. Dealership transactions work best under the KISS principle which states, “Keep It Simple Stupid”.

Have a Pre-Approved Loan Before You Get on the Lot- But don’t tell the dealer too much about this. You see, dealers can make a lot of money behind the scene of the price of the car if they are able to finance the deal. This means that if they think they have a chance to finance the deal, they might be willing to give you a better price on the vehicle. Use your pre-approved loan as a way to let the dealer know that you know what rate you are capable of receiving. This should knock-off that second round of negotiations where the dealer gives a higher percentage rate you will have to deal down.

To get the best interest rate out of dealer financing, it is always a good idea to know where you are as far as your credit rating goes. You can always change your mind after receiving the quote and tell them you would prefer to go through another financing source, but it is to your benefit to keep their hopes up. If your credit rating is bad (under 550), then you can expect not to receiving financing unless you can find someone willing to co-sign for your purchase. Sometimes it is best to wait a year and repair credit rather before you shop, rather than accept a poor deal.

There is never a completely correct answer for this question that is asked year after year. The reason this question is constantly asked and never really answered, is because it really depends on the current rates being given on a loan for purchasing the vehicle and the purchasers needs.

Leasing can be a great way to purchase a car and it can be a bad way. When loan rates are low as they are at the moment, the savings associated with leasing a vehicle at a reduced interest rate is not as significant and therefore not always as worth the trouble.

When we say trouble, we are talking about the necessity to lease another car every few years and mind your mileage during that time. Remember, if you go over your prescribed mileage you will get dinged in the end, which is definitely something you will want to avoid.

This scenario is also putting you in a never ending cycle of payments, such as renting from an apartment, rather than purchasing a home through a loan. But if you like to move around from year to year, the apartment might actually not be such a bad investment, as you won’t have to deal with the selling and repurchasing on a constant basis.

The same goes for the auto. If you like to slip behind a set of new wheels every few years, then the lease isn’t as bad as some might try to tell you. Another bonus of a lease, is it allows a consumer a few years to test out a vehicle they were considering purchasing, but weren’t sure if they would actually want to own it over the long haul.

If the vehicle is not what the consumer wanted, they can walk away free and clear from the vehicle and move onto something else. If they like it, they can go ahead and purchase the vehicle at hopefully a good rate. Your decision hear may in fact not only depend on whether you liked the vehicle, but also what kinds of loan rates are being offered at the time.

The key to the whole loan or lease question is to look at the rates being offered at the time you are considering purchasing a new vehicle. Then decide if you like the vehicle enough to stick with it for five or more years. Don’t always listen to what the dealer advises you, as they are not always looking out for your best interest, but rather the best interest of their own check book.

There is no prescribed right or wrong to way for going about this. There are just some years when one right is a little more wrong than the other… Currently loans are on the rise in popularity while leasing is on the decline, but it is only a matter of time before the good rates disappear and then leasing will make another come back.

Convenience/safety item #2 (AWD- All Wheel Drive)- AWD today has become such a fad, that people seem to think they need it no matter where they live or what kind of whether they normally drive in. The thing to consider, is that even in bad whether AWD does not give a driver any more of an edge over a front wheel drive vehicle once the vehicle is in motion.

Too many people think that they do not have to drive cautiously if they have AWD, which is why many of the accidents in the winter are actually caused by these AWD consumers who were too overconfident in their vehicle. AWD is a nice feature for $1,500 to $2,000 if you routinely drive in snow, ice, and slush, but so are a few less expensive packages, such as anti-lock brakes and traction control.

Ego Booster/safety item #2 (HID Headlights)- There is much debate right now as to how much these headlights really improve nighttime vision for the average person. For some people it has been noted that the extra distance that the light is able to shine, is actually canceled out by the distance that the driver is able to clearly see with their own capable vision. Some consumers purchase this upgrade for the “crystal blue” beam these headlights cast, rather than for its increased light output.

But what you also have to really ask yourself, whether you like them for their safety or “looks” factor, is if these lights are benefiting you enough to justify the extra cost of $500 or more. Some experts say these type of lights actually blind oncoming traffic and bring a whole other safety issue into the mix. In general, halogen headlight that most new cars have today should give you plenty of visual detail for driving, so these certainly aren’t the “cat’s meow” that some dealers try to make them out to be.

Convenience item #3 (Dual Zone Climate Control)- For close to $1,000 over base price, this should be an insult to most peoples intelligence. If the driver is hot and running the air conditioner at 68 degrees and his passenger is cold and has the heat on at 74… don’t you think these two are going to cancel each other out and both end up in a climate zone of 71?

Most cars have the “sophisticated” technology to turn off and on a vent when we do not wish to receive any air on that side. This is usually as sufficient dual climate zone as anyone should ever need… but to each their own.

Remember, the next time you are in the hot seat at the dealer being thrown option after option. Are the options really necessary, or are they wasteful convenience/ego-boosters that will only empty your wallet offering little in return?